plate no. 5906

Street in Samois

oilImpressionismcityscapestreetbuildingsskyarchitectureshadowsvegetation

recreation guide

Odilon Redon’s *Street in Samois* (1888) represents a pivotal moment in the artist’s transition from his early 'noirs' (charcoal and lithography) to color media. While Redon is often categorized as a Symbolist, this specific work falls within the genre of cityscape and exhibits characteristics associated with the Impressionist movement, with which he exhibited in 1886 (Source 5). The painting likely utilizes the oil medium, which Redon adopted in the 1890s as his favorite, moving away from the monochromatic visions of his earlier career (Source 4). The work reflects a shift toward capturing atmospheric conditions and urban landscapes, consistent with the broader 19th-century interest in depicting modern life and specific locales, though Redon’s approach often leaned toward a more subjective, dreamlike interpretation of space rather than strict naturalism.

estimated time

20-30 hours over 5-7 sessions

materials

4 items

steps

5 in sequence

materials

item	purpose	modern equivalent
Oil paints (Ultramarine, White, Black, Yellow Ochre, Red Ochre)	Primary pigments for underpainting and glazing	—
Oil of Copavia (or modern stand oil/linseed oil)	Medium for the first and second paintings, as cited in Reynolds' method which influenced traditional oil practice	Stand oil or refined linseed oil
Varnish	Mixed with oil for later glazing stages to gain mastery over transparent layers	Dammar varnish or synthetic resin varnish
Canvas or Panel	Support for the oil painting	—

preparation

surface prep

Prepare a neutral ground. While specific preparation for *Street in Samois* is not detailed in the sources, traditional oil painting practice of the period often involved a toned ground to facilitate the grisaille underpainting method. The surface should be primed to accept oil mediums without excessive absorption.

underdrawing

Redon’s early career was rooted in drawing and lithography (Source 4), suggesting a strong foundation in contour and value. However, for oil works, he likely employed a loose underdrawing or directly into the underpainting, consistent with the Impressionist tendency to avoid rigid outlines. The sources do not specify a distinct underdrawing phase for this specific oil work, so the artist should rely on the underpainting to establish form.

underpainting

Execute a grisaille (monochrome underpainting) using black, ultramarine, and white, mixed with oil of copavia (Source 1). This step involves mentally extracting red and yellow colors to establish the value structure of the cityscape (Source 1). This technique allows for the subsequent application of transparent color layers, a method practiced by old masters and referenced in traditional oil painting guides (Source 1).

color palette

Ultramarine

Pure Ultramarine

Underpainting and cool shadows, consistent with Reynolds' method cited in Source 1

White

Lead White or Titanium White

Underpainting highlights and mixing tints

Black

Ivory Black or Lamp Black

Underpainting shadows and depth

Yellow/Red Tones

Yellow Ochre, Red Ochre, or Cadmium variants

Glazing and scumbling over the dry grisaille to introduce warmth and local color (Source 1)

composition

The composition should avoid exact bisections of the picture space and ensure the horizon line does not divide the artwork into two equal parts (Source 3). As a cityscape, the horizon should be positioned to emphasize either the sky or the ground, likely showing more ground if the focus is on the street architecture. The viewer's eye should be led around all elements before leading out of the picture, with a clear center of interest to prevent the work from becoming a mere pattern (Source 3). Small, high-contrast elements can be used to balance larger, duller areas, ensuring no spaces between objects are identical (Source 3).

step by step

underpainting→first pass→refining→finishing

underpainting

step 01
Mix black, ultramarine, and white with oil of copavia to create a grisaille underpainting. Establish the values of the street scene, mentally excluding red and yellow tones.
Tip — Ensure the underpainting is quite dry before proceeding to glazing.
Grisaille

first pass

step 02
Apply transparent glazes of yellow and red tones over the dry grisaille. Use oil as the medium initially.
Tip — Treat the glazing like tinting an engraving with watercolors, allowing the underlying values to show through.
Glazing

refining

step 03
Use scumbling (semi-opaque painting) to adjust tones, particularly over darker grounds to create coldness or grey blooms if desired.
Tip — Be aware that scumbling over darker grounds tends toward coldness; use this to balance the warmth of the glazes.
Scumbling

finishing

step 04
As mastery is gained, mix varnish with oil for subsequent glazing layers to deepen the color saturation.
Tip — This method was practiced by old masters and helps achieve depth without muddying the colors.
Varnish Glazing
step 05
Review the composition to ensure the center of interest is off-center and that the eye is led through the scene without getting trapped in patterns.
Tip — Check for exact bisections and ensure varied spacing between architectural elements.
Compositional Balance

critical techniques

Glazing and Scumbling

Used to build color over a monochrome underpainting. Glazing adds transparent color, while scumbling adds semi-opaque layers. This method allows for complex color interactions and depth, as described in traditional oil painting practice (Source 1).

Grisaille Underpainting

Establishing the value structure using only black, ultramarine, and white before introducing color. This separates value decisions from color decisions, a technique advocated by Sir Joshua Reynolds and traditional masters (Source 1).

common pitfalls

→Adding black to darken colors can cause hue shifts toward greenish or bluish tones, especially in yellows and reds. Use complementary colors to neutralize and darken instead (Source 2).
→Lightening colors with white can cause a shift toward blue in reds and oranges. Correct this by adding a small amount of an adjacent color (e.g., orange to red-white mix) (Source 2).
→Creating exact bisections in the composition or identical spaces between objects, which can make the image appear static or patterned (Source 3).
→Over-modeling or being too tied to the outline, which can result in a stiff appearance. Use broad masses and avoid smallness in the initial stages (Source 8).

what the sources don't tell us

Where the corpus is silent, we say so rather than guess. These are the gaps a complete recreation guide would normally cover that our source passages don't.

·Specific visual details of *Street in Samois* (e.g., exact buildings, lighting conditions, specific color palette of this particular painting) are not described in the provided sources.
·Redon’s specific personal technique for this 1888 oil work is not detailed; the guide relies on general traditional oil painting methods (Reynolds) and Redon’s general transition to oil.
·The exact medium Redon used for this specific painting (e.g., specific oil types, varnish) is not confirmed in the sources, though oil is stated as the medium.

grounded in

The technical procedure in this guide traces to the following classical art-instruction texts.

The Practice of Oil Painting↗
- COLOURING A MONOCHROME — applied to Underpainting, glazing, and scumbling techniques
- ON COPYING — applied to Advice on avoiding over-modeling and smallness

cross-referenced from

Named facts about this artwork and artist were checked against these reference pages.

Wikipedia: Color theory↗
- Color theory — part 6 — applied to Color mixing pitfalls and hue shift corrections
Wikipedia: Composition (visual arts)↗
- Composition (visual arts) — part 6 — applied to Compositional balance and horizon line placement
Wikipedia bio — Odilon Redon↗
- part 1 and part 2 — applied to Artist's transition to oil and Impressionist exhibition context